


A Normal Life, Removed From Civilization

by shewhowritestoomuch



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everybody Lives, F/M, First Dates, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 03:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16694536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewhowritestoomuch/pseuds/shewhowritestoomuch
Summary: In another world, Tanith Low was never possessed by a remnant. In that world, she was able to make a dinner date she had made with Ghastly.This is the tail end of that date.(Or over 1k of pure fluff)





	A Normal Life, Removed From Civilization

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sekkiera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sekkiera/gifts).



Ghastly, as it turns out, is not a terrible cook. In fact, Tanith muses as she mops up a bit of gravy with her chips, he might just be as good a chef as he is a tailor.

For two people as old as they are, they are acting like lovestruck teenagers. The conversation has lulled off to the occasional hum, both of them keeping their eyes firmly on their delicious food as they eat, but it isn’t awkward. Tanith can feel a hopeful energy humming under her skin, the likes of which she hasn’t felt since even before Lightning Jones. And if the small smile she sights on Ghastly’s face is any indication, he is equally thrilled that they’ve finally gotten around to doing this.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Tanith looks up, the corners of her mouth stretching her mouth into a smile as she nods.

“I’m glad I’m okay too.”

She feels the blood running to her face as she puts her cutlery down, and for just a moment, she wonders when exactly she turned into a silly schoolgirl.

“And I’m glad that you’re okay,” she sighs, waiting for Ghastly to meet her eyes before she continues. “I mean, I know that we’ve been close to death before, hell, you were turned into a statue-”

“Well, I turned myself into a statue. But, yeah, I know what you mean, it felt closer this time.”

Ghastly stands and takes her empty plate, gesturing to the fireplace in his tiny living room behind the shop as he speaks.

“The couch is comfy, I’ll just…”

“Yeah,” Tanith stands, the grin on her face impossible to restrain as she takes the few steps forward into the living room and looks around.

There are a few photos on the mantle above the fireplace, most of them sepia-toned, all of them with people she’s heard stories of since she was a young thing. The one taking prode of place on the mantle has three people; a younger Ghastly, a man with a thimble still on his thumb, and a woman whose hands are taped up in the style of a boxer.

Tanith is still looking at the photo when Ghastly returns to the room, and starts the fire with a click of his fingers.

“Is it true that she once took a man’s head clear off with one blow?”

She smiles as Ghastly moves to stand next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers as he takes the photo off of the mantle and smiles down at it.”

“It happened before I was around, but she seemed to believe so,” he turns to her, his kind eyes holding her captive as he continues. “No one ever mentions it, but she was very gentle, when she wasn’t boxing. Used to sing me to sleep when I was little and I hadn’t any friends.”

Tanith leans forward slightly, her smile relaxing into something a little more appropriate to the mood of the situation.

“It was their loss, not having you as a friend.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been friendless,” he leans forward and presses a kiss to her forehead, and Tanith has to resist the urge to squeal in delight.

Instead, she takes his hand and pulls him down onto the couch. It’s a little cramped, she suspects that Ghastly has only ever really had to share it with a skeleton before now, but Tanith doesn’t mind being kept in close proximity with the man she has come to treasure as something more than a friend.

“I understand that with Corrival gone, Erskine is to be the new Grand Mage.”

Ghastly quirks an eyebrow as he turns to look at her.

“I also understand that you’re going to be one of the members of the council,” Tanith dares to lean forward and settle her head against Ghastly’s shoulder. “I bringit up because I know that it can be quite a friendless task.”

“Aye, I suppose it can be,” Ghastly’s voice is low, his eyes twinkling as he stares down at Tanith with near unbearable fondness. “But then, I think I have some good friends who I know will stay loyal to me through thick and thin.”

Tanith hums and turns her gaze to the fire. For a moment she can almost forget that she seems to face the ultimate expression of evil on an annual basis. If she closes her eyes, she can even pretend that she and Ghastly are normal people, with normal lives, normal problems, normal jobs.

But then, if she had a normal life, she might never had met Ghastly. They would have been born centuries apart, and she would have been married off to a boy at an intolerably young age, and had no life, or friends, or anything of note to talk about. She probably would have been buried by now, a cold corpse in a lonely grave.

No, normal is definitely overrated.

Tanith shifts her head again, making sure that she looks at Ghastly as she smiles.

“I know that you do.”

Ghastly smiles and kisses her on the forehead again.

“What are your plans then Miss Low?”

Tanith hums. She pulls Ghastly’s arm to rest around her shoulders as she pretends to think about what’s in store for her.

“Well, I’ve met this great man, he’s kind, and he’s a great cook, and he fights for what he believes in. I think I’d like to see how I can make it so that our futures remain entwined for quite some time. And you?”

Ghastly shifts her in his arms, and now Tanith can hear his heart from where her ear is pressed against his chest.

“You know, I’ve met a girl, a woman actually, she’s fearsome, and she puts her whole heart into everything that she does, and when she sets her mind to anything, she achieves it. She shines like the sun, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

They sit on the couch in front of the fire for many hours that night, and for many nights after that.


End file.
